# Just had my first ISOM, what am I missing?



## altbier (Feb 20, 2005)

Had a friend give me a Hoyo De Monterry today. It has about a 50 ring guage and was very long. New to cigars it was my first ISOM(and yes, it was authentic)

It lit well and burned well, but the taste was similiar to a Henry Clay I smoked last night.

There was no great buzz, no great aroma.

Now I am smoking a Fuente Hemingway that was bought from JR, and it is a much better smoke IMHO.

Am I missing something?


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## galaga (Sep 18, 2003)

I guess not with the HdM are you missing anything.


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## mr.c (Apr 8, 2004)

HDM Double Corona, kinda a boring cigar IMO


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## altbier (Feb 20, 2005)

I'm not judging all ISOMs on this ciagr, but expected more from it.


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## radar (Dec 31, 1999)

altbier said:


> I'm not judging all ISOMs on this ciagr, but expected more from it.


ISOM's are like any other smoke, gotta find the ones that you love. You'll know when it hits ya. There are Hons and Nics that I prefer to some ISOM's as well.


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## galaga (Sep 18, 2003)

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Even if it is a Cuban. Hey, go to the VA herf and see if anbody hooks you up with something you like.


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## jimmy (May 1, 2003)

also, they are not neccesarily for everyone.
jimmy


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## radar (Dec 31, 1999)

jimmy said:


> also, they are not neccesarily for everyone.
> jimmy


That's right, the whole thing is as subjective to tastes as ice cream flavors. Just go with what you like.


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## floydp (Jun 6, 2004)

radar said:


> That's right, the whole thing is as subjective to tastes as ice cream flavors. Just go with what you like.


Thats a fact, I've had a few cuban's over the years and didn't really get the hype.Was on a cruise that involved Mexico and smoked a half dozen or so there ,they were better but I still liked Padron's better, then I was gifted a PSD4 by this guy and that was it. Best stogie by far I'd had..


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## cazadore (Jan 1, 2000)

altbier said:


> Had a friend give me a Hoyo De Monterry today. It has about a 50 ring guage and was very long. New to cigars it was my first ISOM(and yes, it was authentic)
> 
> It lit well and burned well, but the taste was similiar to a Henry Clay I smoked last night.
> 
> ...


If it tasted similar to a Henry Clay, I would say it more than likely could BE a Henry Clay. LMAO!!!

Seriously, I would bet my entire stash that you friend handed you a fake. Ask him where HE got it from and post back.


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## IHT (Dec 27, 2003)

altbier said:


> Am I missing something?


tastebuds?

nah, just teasing. i've had a couple of cubans that i've not really liked, but those were just poor versions of a good cigar (Mag46). i have since had only *1* of them that has been worth smoking, and that was a few nights ago.

as for what cazadore said, i agree, where did he get it from? not discounting your friends credibility, but i know i buy from very good vendors and i still worry about "am i getting fakes"? <-- i shouldn't, but the thought never escapes my mind due to the abundance of them.

matter of fact, i sent a BOTL here a cigar to try, a cigar that i still have the box for and was part of a group buy i did with some guys last year, and he thought that it was a fake due to the taste....
so, it happens (an authentic cigar tasting like a fake = or bad).

also, and this is "my own opinion": you smoked a rather large cuban, from my experience, they are a LOT milder....
now, if you just got done smoking a stronger non-cuban, you wouldn't have tasted a damn thing. i've even found that if i smoke a non-cuban any time during the day, and i have a "lighter" cuban cigar later that night, i'll have a hard time grasping the flavors.
matter of fact, i gave my boss his favorite cuban cigar (HdM Epi 2) while we were on a recent business trip. he smokes nothing but Padron 3000Ms and LGC Series Rs all the time, which i find super harsh and scorches my taste buds. after he was done, i asked him how it was... "mnaaahhh, it was alright, didn't have much flavor, wasn't very strong." 
i thought....  ???
then there was the time i let my mom and wife both try a partagas short. both of them smoke cigarettes like chimneys, and neither one of them could taste the partagas?? unfortunately for me, i was trying a gifted Padron 1926 and wanted to try their partagas'. it took me about 5 minutes of puffing (5 draws) before i could taste anything at all due to the harshness and aftertaste of that Padron.

just some of my own thoughts on the issue.
but, if you find you don't like 'em, don't worry about it, stick to what you do like.


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## God (May 5, 2004)

cazadore said:


> If it tasted similar to a Henry Clay, I would say it more than likely could BE a Henry Clay. LMAO!!!


 :r :r :r


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## poker (Dec 11, 1997)

Just curious but...

You said:


> Had a friend give me a Hoyo De Monterry today. It has about a 50 ring guage and was very long. New to cigars it was my first ISOM(and yes, it was authentic)


... how, being it was your very first Havana can you verify its authenticity other than your friend saying it was?


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## SeanGAR (Jul 9, 2004)

Cigars are biological materials and subject to variability. Variability within and between boxes, years, factories, sick periods, etc. I've had some real stinkers over the years, side by side other cigars in the same box that were awesome. Toss in the possibility of fakes, and you can't pass judgement on one or a few cigars from the same box. You need to smoke more than one, more than a few, and ideally many cigars to get an idea of what Cuban cigars are about. 

I think a lot of people expect the holy grail when they smoke their first Cuban. Sometimes the experience lives up to expectations, sometimes it does not. I find top habanos, which should include Hoyo DC, often have an elegant and complex smoke, not necessarily powerful (a la JdNA, LFD Chisels). 

I'll see you at the VA herf...we can talk at length then.


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## altbier (Feb 20, 2005)

Some great answers, and it is true, I smoked a ciagr to the nub a few days ago and fried some tastebuds so that maybe the problem! 

Look forward to meeting you guys at the Virginia Herf


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## MoTheMan (May 24, 2003)

TASTEBUDS!!

IMO, it takes time to acclimate to the flavor & complexity of Havanas to reach the point of really appreciating them.

Try a few dozen more, then you can really give up on them if you don't find anything that you like. LOTL know that part of the fun is trying new sticks.


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## floydp (Jun 6, 2004)

SeanGAR said:


> Cigars are biological materials and subject to variability. Variability within and between boxes, years, factories, sick periods, etc. I've had some real stinkers over the years, side by side other cigars in the same box that were awesome. Toss in the possibility of fakes, and you can't pass judgement on one or a few cigars from the same box. You need to smoke more than one, more than a few, and ideally many cigars to get an idea of what Cuban cigars are about.
> 
> I think a lot of people expect the holy grail when they smoke their first Cuban. Sometimes the experience lives up to expectations, sometimes it does not. I find top habanos, which should include Hoyo DC, often have an elegant and complex smoke, not necessarily powerful (a la JdNA, LFD Chisels).
> 
> I'll see you at the VA herf...we can talk at length then.


I to look forward to that conversation Professor, I'll be the nosey guy with the big face..


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## galaga (Sep 18, 2003)

SeanGAR said:


> Cigars are biological materials and subject to variability. Variability within and between boxes, .............


 :r If that don't sound like a chemist, I don't know what does :r


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## galaga (Sep 18, 2003)

MoTheMan said:


> Try a few dozen more, ............


 :r If that don't sound like Mo I don't know what does :r


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## galaga (Sep 18, 2003)

EEF, that's a bitchin cartoon of the FloydP!


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## cazadore (Jan 1, 2000)

MoTheMan said:


> Try a few dozen more, then you can really give up on them if you don't find anything that you like. LOTL know that part of the fun is trying new sticks.


Agree 100%. Try some more. BUT...make sure they're the REAL DEAL. If they taste like a Henry Clay, trust me, they *AREN'T* the real thing.


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## SeanGAR (Jul 9, 2004)

galaga said:


> :r If that don't sound like a chemist, I don't know what does :r


Exactly .. you need REPLICATION.....replicate boxes, box codes, years.......the more replication, the better the evaluation.

That is why the gorillas here smoke so many of them ... because they are sensory scientists in search of the true population mean .. not just a simple statistic you get from a stick or two.......


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## LasciviousXXX (Oct 12, 2004)

SeanGAR said:


> That is why the gorillas here smoke so many of them ... because they are sensory scientists in search of the true population mean .. not just a simple statistic you get from a stick or two.......


Awwwww man, and here I thought I was doing it to just look cool 

I've only ever had 1 ISOM that I didn't care for too much, however it had more to do with a bad batch of cigars rather than a flavor problem. Give a few more a try Altbier and then see if its ISOM's themselves that you don't care for or just that one particular stick. Not everybody is going to like everything (except maybe txmatt )


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## IHT (Dec 27, 2003)

LasciviousXXX said:


> I've only ever had 1 ISOM that I didn't care for too much, however it had more to do with a bad batch of cigars rather than a flavor problem.


i'm proud to be the one that gave it to you, dustin. my loss is your gain... err... somethin' like that.


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## clovis (Apr 14, 2004)

altbier said:


> Had a friend give me a Hoyo De Monterry today. It has about a 50 ring guage and was very long. New to cigars it was my first ISOM(and yes, it was authentic)
> 
> It lit well and burned well, but the taste was similiar to a Henry Clay I smoked last night.
> 
> ...


I know this thread is coming to a close, but I just wanted to chime in...
If I avoid the question of authenticity of your sticks (since others have already raised the question)...I did want to add my opinions
I agree totally with whoever said the HDM DC is milder cigar. Though I have smoked only about a half a box of the DC (from 2001)...I noticed that the flavor was very light...quite different from most of the shorter cigars I smoke PCs and robustos. I had draw problems and everything else, the flavor was somewhat off due to the draw problems as well. The aroma was nice and the ash was more typical of the cuban leaf than the brighter domestics.

HDM in my opinion tends to be mild-medium in general when compared to the same vitola from the other commonly mentioned brands...(ie. compare an HDM Epi #2 to the robustos from partagas, bolivar, RA, etc...I find this milder profile to be even more prevalent in the DC size. I am not sure about the more current production HDM DC's...and I have never had the HDM churchill (in case it was the cuhurchill size afterall)

I am still fairly new to the cuban leaf (qualifier)


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## LasciviousXXX (Oct 12, 2004)

IHT said:


> i'm proud to be the one that gave it to you, dustin. my loss is your gain... err... somethin' like that.


Well, as many smokes as you send me, not all of them can be my favorite 

Hell, you've already turned me on to the PSD4's/Epi 2's/SLR PC's/Monte EL's/and countless other things. 1 out of 753 aint bad


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## IHT (Dec 27, 2003)

dustin, you can't thank the guy who posted above you just now for turning ME onto the Epi2. we did a trade early last year and the Epi2 he sent me was excellent, as i had previously written them off... 
i've learned that just smoking 1 or 2 of a particular cigar is not enough to give it a fair chance... 
(which is why i'm doing these box splits with some of us - lets us try new cigars and have enough to give 'em a chance to show us what they can offer).


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## LasciviousXXX (Oct 12, 2004)

Cool. Thanx bro.

Nice to see that the creepy blinkin' avatar is back


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## IHT (Dec 27, 2003)

LasciviousXXX said:


> Cool. Thanx bro.
> 
> Nice to see that the creepy blinkin' avatar is back


eef thought it was a monkey, so he drew a monkey on the box he sent me with his CDs in it.


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